it came like a lot of things did
because Some Kid said it

Some Kid spoke
the world into existence

and I worry there are things
I have forgotten to stop doing

Some Kid taught me so much
lessons that stick

to the outsides of my brain
leaf litter on a sticky larva

I listened because Some Kid is older
or taller, or he called me Little Man

in one case, Some Kid had spray-paint
and wrote on the retention pond wall

Jay is a faggot. so Jay was a faggot
and I didn’t go over there

it was Some Kid who taught us
Smear the Queer

I remember asking a friend to play
who was staying over

he said the teachers at school
had made them choose a different name

something
more appropriate

they called it Kill. he said
we could play Kill if I wanted to